A little honest insight about the World Series champion San Francisco Giants (2010, 2012, 2014) from a blog that ranked in the Top 100 of MLB.com Fan Blogs of 2012-14

Results tagged ‘ Cubs ’

With all the talk this spring circulating around Melky Cabrera’s hot bat, the return of Buster Posey, Freddy Sanchez, Brian Wilson, and Tim Lincecum’s shaky early starts, we’ve sort of forgotten about the other new addition in the outfield.And that’s Angel Pagan.

Maybe we haven’t talked a lot about Pagan because there wasn’t much to talk about.

He came into Tuesday’s game hitting .227 (5 for 22). And it didn’t get much better when he made out in his first two at-bats Tuesday.

But then connected on a gapper to left for a triple and later added a double, lifting his spring average to .269. He also made a couple of nice grabs in the outfield.

“I like it,” Pagan said of all his running. “That’s the way it’s going to be in the season.”

Well, let’s hope so.

In the meantime, Pagan won’t be able to build off his success Tuesday in the next couple of days. He’s getting a wisdom tooth removed Wednesday.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Madison Bumgarner gave up three runs on seven hits in four innings. He said he was experimenting with a new slider grip with mixed results. He did strike out four and walked none. Manager Bruce Bochy said he was wild in the strike zone.

Buster Posey caught four more innings and reported no problems. The plan is to get him stretched out to six innings in a game next week. For now, he’ll work on his batting stroke. He went 0 for 2 Tuesday, making him 0 for 5 for the spring. But no strikeouts. He’ll play DH on Wednesday.

Mike Fontenot, who had been nursing a groin injury, got into the game and got a double, walk, RBI and run in two plate appearances.

UP NEXT

Matt Cain takes the hill as the Giants face the Indians in Scottsdale at 1:05 p.m.

A strange this happened Sunday in the desert. The Giants lost — TWICE!

In their final split-squad games of the spring, the Giants fell 3-2 to the Cubs in 10 innings and 6-4 to the Athletics.

Against Oakland, the Giants struggled to mount much offense against the A’s Brandon McCarthy, who limited the Giants to no runs and three hits through six innings.

But he left the game after Brandon Belt and Ryan Rohlinger collected back-to-back singles to open the eighth. Andres Torres walked to load the bases, and Freddy Sanchez got a run-scoring groundout. Then Aubrey Huff belted a three-run home run.

On the pitching side, Madison Bumgarner had a bumpy outing when he apparently lost focus from a tight strike zone.

Bumgarner set the A’s down in order in the first, thanks to a double-play ball.

But in the second, he opened with back-to-back walks. Then after fielding a comebacker from Ryan Sweeney, he looked to third, then changed his mind and threw wildly to first, allowing two runs to score.

After that, he gave up three consecutive singles and a sacrifice fly to plate two more runs. He ended the innings with strikeouts of Mark Ellis and Daric Barton. Bumgarner then got the hook, making just 40 pitches. No doubt he got in more work in the bullpen.

On a good note, Dan Runzler made a strong case to secure the long reliever spot in the bullpen, throwing three scoreless innings in relief of Bumgarner, striking out three and giving up just one hit.

Against the Cubs, the Giants lineup contained only two potential opening-day starters: Pablo Sandoval (1 for 4) and Pat Burrell (0 for 3).

Even though all the pitchers the Giants threw against the Cubs are not going to be on the opening day roster, they kept the game close before the Cubs won it in the 10th.

After getting smacked around some in his first spring start, Tim Lincecum threw three hitless innings on Tuesday as the Giants lost 3-2 to the Chicago Cubs.

“My location was better and I was mixing my pitches in and out,” Lincecum said. “I didn’t throw too many off-speed pitches. My rhythm felt quick the first two innings, and then I was able to calm it down in the third.”

Here are some other highlights:

MAD BUMMER: Madison Bumgarner followed Lincecum to the mound. He started with two more scoreless innings. But in his third inning, he gave up a run and left two runners on base when he was relieved by Dan Runzler. Runzler gave a two-run double to Aramis Ramirez with both runs being charged to Bumgarner.

MORE PANDA: Pablo Sandoval had two doubles in three RBI. Being patient at the plate paid off for Sandoval on Tuesday. He worked the count to 2-0 on Ryan Dempster in his first AB. Then went to left-center for a run-scoring double. Against Todd Wellemeyer, Sandoval took a 1-1 pitch and hit it 430 feet to center. That wasn’t enough to get it out of the park and it resulted in another double. Sandoval is 6 for 13 with two HRs, two doubles and five RBI this spring.

FREDDY SANCHEZ: Making his first spring starting, Sanchez went 0 for 3. But it included a liner out to first in his first at-bat. It’s good to see Freddy playing games on March 1. Barring any setbacks, he’ll be ready for opening day. More interesting about this debut was that Sanchez was at the leadoff spot. Andres Torres sat out again with a sore side. Aaron Rowand also was in the starting lineup, but Rowand was batting No. 8. Hopefully this is a sign that Bruce Bochy is done putting Rowand in the leadoff spot, even on days when Torres is not in the lineup. We hope.

Pablo Sandoval capped a five-run third inning with a grand slam off Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano as the Giants improved to 7-1 in Cactus League play with a 5-1 win over Chicago on Wednesday.

Zambrano allowed soft singles to John Bowker (1 for 3), Kevin Frandsen (1 for 3) and Aaron Rowand (1 for 4) before hitting Eugenio Velez with a pitch to score Bowker.

Sandoval then hammered a line driver over the right-field wall, giving the Giants a 5-0 lead.

Inside the box score

Jonathan Sanchez struck out five in three scoreless innings of work. He gave up three hits and no walks.

Aubrey Huff had a double off Zambrano and finished 1 for 4.

Bengie Molina was 1 for 2 with a walk.

Velez was 0 for 3 with a run and RBI. He started in center field, hoping to show he can handle that position as a backup to Rowand. If Velez can show he can play all three outfield positions, as well as second base, it would greatly increase his chances of making the club, particularly since Andres Torres has been struggling this spring.

Up next

Tim Lincecum is slated to make his second spring training start Thursday against the Seattle Mariners. His scheduled start Sunday was rained out, so Lincecum threw a simulated game indoors.

Meta

More Splash Hits

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.